Manchester Strong Annual Growth Attractive For Investment
Manchester property prices have seen strong annual growth in February 2017, up 8.8 per cent.
Sales volumes in the city have grown by 40 per cent in the past three years in the northern city. However, despite this significant growth, Manchester’s average house price is still £151,800, far below cities in the South of England, making it an attractive choice for investors.
The average house price growth in a UK city currently stands at 6.4 per cent, a decline from 7.8 per cent in 2016. Cities other than Manchester that have seen significant price rises include Portsmouth at 8.1 per cent, as well as Bristol and London at 8.0 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively.
Director of mortgage services at LSL Financial Services, David Copland, said: ‘Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester are all experiencing exceptional growth thanks to a booming job market and improved transport links. More people are therefore moving their attention away from the London property market, especially when looking to secure their first home. It will be interesting to see if the northern powerhouses continue to grow at this pace now Article 50 has been triggered; but with investment continuing to flow, I expect this only to continue.’
London and Bristol have seen turnover remain stable or decline slightly over the last few years, however Manchester, Liverpool, Leicester and Birmingham have experienced the opposite.
Insight director at Hometrack, Richard Donnell, has commented: ‘Levels of housing turnover across UK cities are expected to remain broadly flat over 2017.There is some further upside for sales volume in regional cities but much depends upon how would be buyers respond to external factors, not least the impact of lower real wage growth, the potential for higher mortgage rates and whether demand will be impacted by this week’s triggering of Article 50.’